5 Most Interesting Comics of the Week

Every Wednesday, I preview the 5 most interesting new comics hitting comic shops, Comixology, Kickstarter and the web. If there's a release you're excited about, let's talk about it in the comments.

1. Freud

Written by Corinne Maier; art by Anne Simon Nobrow PressIt's a little surprising there haven't been more comics devoted to Sigmund Freud considering that his life's work centered around dreams, free association, and the unconscious—all of which are ripe for a cartoonist's visual treatment. Nobrow Press, a London-based publisher that focuses on high quality art books and graphic novels, has just released an English translation of Corrinne Maier and Anne Simon's 2012 French graphic album (as they're called in France) titled simply Freud, which shows just how perfect comics can be for illustrating and explaining a concept like psychoanalysis.At a mere 55 pages, Freud is a cursory run-through of the legendary figure's life, allotting just as much space on explaining the theories he originated and illustrating some of the cases that defined his work as it does to particular milestones in his biography. It is purposefully breezy, with Freud himself presented as the amusing cartoon narrator to his own life, traipsing from one vignette to another—whether they be real-life settings like his home in Vienna or Dali-esque dreamscapes—puffing on his cigar and pondering his own career. As a character in his own story, he is opinionated and at times flippant. He is also reflective and sometimes inconclusive about his own ideas.It's probably worth noting that this book was made by two women, and Freud's own complicated relationship with women and feminism is at times addressed in the book, showing him wrestling with trying to understand how the female mind works. He labels them "the dark continent of psychoanalysis" while shown separated by a continental rift from a group of naked and perturbed women. The book is never fully critical or sympathetic when dealing with subjects like this; instead it presents him as a conflicted and complicated thinker who may not have all the answers.Corinne Maier is a psychoanalyst herself and has written over 15 books on a diverse range of subjects. Two of her best selling books in France conveyed the type of controversial opinions sure to raise the cockles of American talk show punditry. One was about how hard work doesn't pay off and the other outlined 40 reasons why you shouldn't have kids. The real star of this book, however, is Anne Simon. A winner of the 2004 "New Talent" award at the Angoulême Festival, Simon has worked on a number of children's comics for European publishers, but her work has been little seen in the States. She draws in a whimsical style reminiscent of the classic French gag cartoonists like Jean-Jacques Sempé, bringing humor and an easy accessibility to Freud's work. She uses a very modern and striking color palette that changes with each vignette, and the quality of printing Nobrow has lent to this makes her work here just a pleasure to look at.

2. Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story

By Peter Bagge Drawn & QuarterlyPeter Bagge is one of the popular indie comics creators who rose to prominence in the early '90s, due primarily to his satirical grunge/slacker comic Hate. In recent years he's been as prolific as ever with comics like 2012's Reset, about a washed up comedian who participates in a virtual reality experiment to relive past events, as well as his ongoing essays and comics for the libertarian magazine Reason. In somewhat of an unexpected step for someone who is known mostly for his biting humor, Bagge's latest graphic novel, Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story, is a biography of an important figure in American feminism. Margaret Sanger, the birth control activist and founder of the Planned Parenthood movement, fought tirelessly to educate and provide birth control options to the economically underprivileged in the early 20th century. She was instrumental in the legalization of contraception in the United States and opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S., preaching the use of contraception to give women the choice of when they should have children. She was opposed to abortions and fought to prevent unsafe, back-alley procedures. Sanger was a controversial political figure, and Bagge himself is no stranger to controversial political opinions, yet his rubbery, Warner Brothers-influenced art style seems at first incongruous with the serious subject matter of Sanger's life story. However, like with Anne Simon's cartoony take on Sigmund Freud, Bagge's use of humor here brings an approachability to the biography and to the "character" of Margaret Sanger that you wouldn't necessarily get from a written biography. In one scene, as Sanger heads off to the Lower East Side of New York to work as a nurse, her children protest that "other mommies don't work!" With a furrowed brow she leans forward and heads out the door retorting "Yes, well, THIS ONE does…You'll just have to get used to it." She very much becomes a Bagge character and a principled, driven person that you want to learn more about.

3. "Our Toyota Was Fantastic"

Boulet Bouletcorp.comFrance's most popular webcomic creator has done it again. It wasn't that long ago that I featured Boulet's long, vertically scrolling "Le Long Voyage" on this list and already he's back on it with "Notre Toyota Était Fantastique" ("Our Toyota Was Fantastic"). That's not to say he hasn't done a number of comics in between "Voyage" and "Toyota"; he's even done a few since posting this one last week.In this beautiful webcomic, Boulet revisits a childhood memory that many of us can probably relate to—riding in the backseat of his parent's car while dozing off to sleep. He conveys many precious details—the pulsing glow of his father's cigarette from the front seat, the abrupt flood of light from passing through a tunnel—and presents them through poetic first person narration, charmingly rendered drawings, and the best use of animation I've seen in a webcomic.Many comic purists balk at seeing animation in a comic. So much of the power of a good comic comes from the reader's own imagination when reading the story and some feel that adding motion crosses the line from comics into something else entirely, something where the reader becomes more of a passive participant. All of the lackluster attempts at what are called "Motion Comics" have fallen into this trap and produced something that is less effective than the "still" version. Plus, adding motion to still imagery can often result in an awkwardness that actually makes the drawings seem less alive, the opposite of its intent. With clever use of animated gifs, Boulet shows how adding motion to a comic is done here. Although this story might be just as effective and poignant without it, the little bits of movement he adds (passing reflections, shimmering lights and shadows, even the gentle flickering of the hand drawn lettering) is done with true purpose and it brings the reader right into the backseat of that car, helping to evoke their own similar memories.Give the comic a read here and marvel at how gorgeous it looks.

4. Best American Comics 2013

Edited by Jeff Smith with series editors Jessica Abel and Matt Madden Houghton Mifflin HarcourtWell, this is probably a no-brainer inclusion for a column about notable comics. The latest edition of the Best American Comics series contains short comics and excerpts from longer comics from North American cartoonists that were published last year and, as it has done since 2006, gives you an eye-opening tour of the wide range of staggeringly good comics that are out there. The series to date has been shepherded by cartoonists and comics educators Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, who, every year, pool together over 100 of the best comics they can and bring in a guest editor to select the cream of the crop (this year it's Jeff Smith of Bone and RASL fame). This will be the last volume of BAC that Abel and Madden edit, as they step down to focus on their own work while on extended residency in Angoulême, France (there is a definite French connection running through most of this week's books, if you haven't noticed).

Among the comics that Abel, Madden and Smith have selected this year are:- Becky Cloonan's horror fantasy The Mire (one of the best mini comics I read last year)- An excerpt from Darywn Cooke's latest Parker graphic novel, The Score- The initial chapters from Charles Forsman's teenage angst/killers on the run mini comic The End of The F***king World- Matt Forsythe's wordless adaptation of a Korean folk tale Jinchalo- Laura Terry's Overboard (I picked this book up at SPX last year and it is gorgeous)- Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez' Locke & Key one shot "Open The Moon"- Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case's award-winning true crime story Green River Killer- An excerpt from Jeff Lemire's haunting graphic novel about a father and son, Underwater Welder- Ramon Perez' Eisner award winning adaptation of a Jim Henson screenplay Tales of Sand- Ben Towle's swashbuckling webcomic Oyster War- The latest chapter in Jason Lutes' long running Berlin

5. SPX '13 Journal

by Jared Cullum JaredLovesToDraw.comFor many independent cartoonists, The Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland is the biggest event of the year. It's an inspiring and creatively validating experience where up-and-coming cartoonists can be in the same room with indie comic superstars, everyone selling their handmade mini comics or self-published graphic novels to the same crowd of fans who are eager to discover what's new in this creatively burgeoning sector of comics publishing. Cartoonists being cartoonists, it's not unusual to find many of them in the weeks after the show making comics about their SPX experience as a way of processing it.One that stood out to me recently is by newcomer Jared Cullum (whom I've had the pleasure of meeting on a couple of occasions). After attending his second SPX this year, Cullum painted this beautiful 8 page watercolor comic depicting himself and the other attendees as cute, anthropomorphic animals. If you are familiar enough with the small press scene you'll recognize a number of the cartoonists depicted here like Jim Rugg, Dustin Harbin, Rob Ullman, Ed Piskor and more. And if you are a cartoonist, you may be able to relate to Cullum's experience and his feelings about it. As a part-time cartoonist myself, I know I sure did. This little comic gives a great insight into some common insecurities cartoonists have about themselves and their place among other artists, while also showing how motivating the social aspect of a show like SPX can be for them. Making comics is a time-consuming, often isolating profession, yet the act of making something personal and selling it to strangers requires a level of comfort with publicness that conflicts with that isolation. Cullum taps into this very well here. He also shows off some impressive watercolor skills and a keen sense of comedic timing that has me excited to see what he'll do next.He says he plans to do more of these anthropomorphic journal comics in the future so follow his Tumblr and read this comic here.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Blue is the Warmest ColorFrench week continues as Julie Maroh's 2010 graphic novel about lesbian love and youthful rebellion, originally called Blue Angel, is released in English with a title that matches its 2013 film adaptation, the winner of the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Preview here.FranJim Woodring's latest graphic novel involving his long-running character Frank is actually about Frank's soul-mate, Fran. Somewhat of a sequel to 2011's Congress of Animals, though you're also encouraged to read this first and Congress second. Preview here.Love and Rockets: New Stories #6It's that time of year when the annual release of new stories from Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez arrives in the digest-sized form of a new Love and Rockets book. Gilbert returns to one of his most famous characters, Luba, while Jaime continues to explore one of his newer characters, Tonta. Preview pages.

The Art of Charlie AdlardThe Walking Dead fans are well aware of the greatness of artist Charlie Adlard. He's been the artist on that book since issue #7 and has been consistently outstanding. This oversized hardcover takes a look at his career, providing lots of behind the scenes extras.More info here.

These days, we tend to think about The Scarlet Letter in relation to high school students struggling with their English papers, but we didn’t always see the book that way. When Nathaniel Hawthorne published the novel on March 16, 1850, it was a juicy bestseller about an adulterous woman forced to wear a scarlet ‘A’ on her chest by a community steeped in religious hypocrisy. Here are 10 things you might not have known about the classic tome.

1. HAWTHORNE WAS SO ASHAMED OF HIS PURITAN ANCESTORS, HE CHANGED HIS NAME.

Hawthorne, who was born in Salem, Massachusetts, was aware of his messy Puritan heritage. His great-great-grandfather William Hathorne came to Salem in 1636. As the Massachusetts Bay delegate, he tried to rid the town of Quakers by having them whipped and dragged through the street half naked. His son, John Hathorne, was even worse. As a magistrate during the Salem witch trials of 1692, he examined more than one hundred accused witches, and found them all guilty. Hawthorne detested this legacy and distanced himself from his ancestors by adding the “W” to the spelling of his name.

2. HE STARTED THE SCARLET LETTER AFTER HE WAS FIRED FROM HIS JOB.

Unable to support his family by publishing short stories, Hawthorne took a politically appointed post at the Salem Custom House in 1846. Three years later, he was fired because of a political shakeup. The loss of his job, as well as the death of his mother, depressed Hawthorne, but he was also furious at Salem. "I detest this town so much that I hate to go out into the streets, or to have people see me,” he said.

3. HESTER AND DIMMESDALE’S AFFAIR MAY BE MODELED AFTER A PUBLIC SCANDAL.

In 1846, Hawthorne's sister-in-law Elizabeth Peabody published the work of Hungarian linguist Charles Kraitsir. Two years later, it was discovered that Kraitsir’s wife had seduced several of his students at the University of Virginia. He left his wife and daughter in Philadelphia and fled to Peabody for help. Peabody responded by going to Philadelphia in an attempt to gain guardianship of the daughter. This didn’t go over so well with the wife. She followed Peabody back to Boston and confronted her husband. In response, Peabody and Kraitsir tried to get her committed to a lunatic asylum. The press got wind of the story and Kraitsir was skewered for looking weak and hiding behind Peabody’s skirts. Hawthorne watched as the scandal surrounding a woman’s affairs played out on the public stage, right as he was starting The Scarlet Letter.

4. THE PURITANS REALLY DID MAKE PEOPLE WEAR LETTERS FOR ADULTERY.

Hawthorne must have known there was historical precedence for The Scarlet Letter. According to a 1658 law in Plymouth, people caught in adultery were whipped and forced “to weare two Capitall letters namely A D cut out in cloth and sowed on theire vpermost Garments on theire arme or backe.” If they ever took the letters off, they would be publicly whipped again. A similar law was enacted in Salem.

In the town of York (now in Maine) in 1651, near where Hawthorne’s family owned property, a woman named Mary Batchellor was whipped 40 lashes for adultery and forced to wear an ‘A’ on her clothes. She was married to Stephen Batchellor, a minister over 80 years old. Sound familiar?

5. HAWTHORNE’S EDITOR TOOK CREDIT FOR TALKING HIM INTO WRITING THE NOVEL.

In an 1871 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, editor James T. Fields wrote about being Hawthorne’s champion. Not only did he try to get Hawthorne reinstated in his Custom House post, Fields said he convinced Hawthorne to write The Scarlet Letter as a novel. One day, while trying to encourage the despondent writer ("'Who would risk publishing a book for me, the most unpopular writer in America?' 'I would,' said I"), Fields noticed Hawthorne’s bureau. He said he bet Hawthorne had already written something new and that it was in one of the drawers. Hawthorne, flabbergasted, pulled out a manuscript. “How in Heaven's name did you know this thing was there?” he said. He gave Fields the “germ” of The Scarlet Letter. Fields then persuaded Hawthorne to alter “the plan of that story” and write a full-sized book. The rest is history.

Or is it? Hawthorne’s wife Sophia said of Fields’s claims: “He has made the absurd boast that he was the sole cause of the Scarlet Letter being published!" She added that Edwin Percy Whipple was the one who encouraged Hawthorne.

6. THE NOVEL IS ONE OF THE FIRST TO FEATURE A STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER.

Hester Prynne is a tall, dignified character who endures her outcast status with grace and strength. Although she has fallen to a low place as an adulteress with an illegitimate child, she becomes a successful seamstress and raises her daughter even though the authorities want to take the child away. As such, she’s a complex character who embodies what happens when a woman breaks societal rules. Hawthorne not only knew accomplished women such as Peabody and Margaret Fuller, he was writing The Scarlet Letter directly after the first women's rights convention in New York in 1848. He was one of the first American writers to depict “women’s rights, women’s work, women in relation to men, and social change,” according to biographer Brenda Wineapple.

7. THE SCARLET LETTER IS FULL OF SYMBOLS.

As you probably know, Hawthorne hits you in the head with symbolism throughout The Scarlet Letter, starting with the characters’ names—Pearl for an unwanted child, Roger Chillingworth for a twisted, cold man, Arthur Dimmesdale for a man whose education cannot lead him to truth. From the wild woods to the rosebush by the jail to the embroidered ‘A’ itself, it’s easy to see why The Scarlet Letter is the book that launched a thousand literary essays.

8. HAWTHORNE LOVED THE WORD "IGNOMINY."

In the 87,000-plus words that make up The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne used “ignominy” 16 times, “ignominious” seven times, and “ignominiously” once. He apparently had affection for the word, which means dishonor, infamy, disgrace, or shame. Either that, or he needed a thesaurus.

9. PEOPLE THOUGHT THE NOVEL WAS SCANDALOUS.

While the reviews were generally positive, others condemned The Scarlet Letter as smut. For example, this 1851 review by Reverend Arthur Cleveland Coxe: “Why has our author selected such a theme? … Is it, in short, because a running underside of filth has become as requisite to a romance, as death in the fifth act to a tragedy? Is the French era actually begun in our literature? … we honestly believe that "the Scarlet Letter" has already done not a little to degrade our literature, and to encourage social licentiousness.” This kind of rhetoric didn’t hurt sales. In fact, The Scarlet Letter’s initial print run of 2500 books sold out in 10 days.

10. HAWTHORNE DIDN’T MAKE MUCH MONEY FROM THE NOVEL.

The Scarlet Letter made Hawthorne a well-known writer, allowed him to purchase a home in Concord, and insured an audience for books like The House of Seven Gables. However, The Scarlet Letter didn’t make Hawthorne rich. Despite its success in the U.S. and abroad, royalties weren’t that great—overseas editions paid less than a penny per copy. Hawthorne only made $1500 from the book over the remaining 14 years of his life. He was never able to escape the money troubles that plagued him.

In the Harry Potter series, many of Voldemort's horcruxes were give rich backstories, like Tom Riddle's diary, Marvolo Gaunt's ring, and of course, Harry himself. But the most personal horcrux containing a fragment of Voldemort's soul is also the biggest mystery. Voldemort carries Nagini the snake with him wherever he goes, but we still don't know how the two met or where Nagini came from. Fans may not have to wait much longer to find out: One fan theory laid out by Vanity Fair suggests that Nagini is actually a cursed witch, and her true identity will be revealed in the next Fantastic Beasts movie.

On March 13, the trailer dropped for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second installment in the Harry Potter prequel series written by J.K. Rowling. The clips include lots of goodies for fans—including a first look at Jude Law as young Dumbledore—but one potential bombshell requires closer examination.

Pay attention at the 1:07 mark in the video below and you'll see Claudia Kim, the actress playing a new, unnamed character in the film. While we don't know much about her yet, Pottermore tells us that she is a Maledictus or “someone who suffers from a ‘blood curse’ that turns them into a beast.” This revelation led some fans to suspect the beast she transforms into is Nagini, the snake destined to be Voldemort's companion.

That isn't the only clue backing up the theory. The second piece of evidence comes in the trailer at the 1:17 mark: There, you can see an advertisement for a "wizarding circus," featuring a poster of a woman resembling Kim constricted a by massive snake.

If Kim's character does turn out to be Nagini, the theory still doesn't explain how she eventually joins forces with Voldemort and becomes his horcrux. Fans will have to wait until the film's release on November 16, 2018 for answers. Fortunately, there are plenty of other Harry Potter fan theories to study up on in the meantime.